


Super Effective

by PastaKing



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: First Meetings, M/M, Pokemon GO - Freeform, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 07:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7499370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastaKing/pseuds/PastaKing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two nerds run into each other while playing everyone's least favorite Pokémon app. It's not love at first sight, but it's close enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Super Effective

**Author's Note:**

> Pokémon Go has become the only thing I even do anymore. Of course I felt the need to write something crazy like this (it was a cute idea at the time).

"Hey, Mikasa. Tell Mom I'm going out."

"What?"

"You heard me." Eren strode by her nonchalantly, eyes glued to his phone. He turned the corner and made his way down the hall towards the front door. Mikasa was understandably confused; her brother was the laziest person known to man. He hadn't willingly left the house in weeks, much less leaving suddenly like this. He sure as hell wasn't hanging out with anyone (he had a total of three friends that were as antisocial as he was), which led Mikasa to the conclusion that Eren was going out alone. Which was shifty.

"Where are you going?" she questioned, eyebrows furrowed. She could tell when he was up to something, and this was most definitely one of those times. 

"On a run," he answered pointedly.

Mikasa scoffed. "You don't run."

Eren flashed his sister a fiery glare. "Yeah, well, now I do. Funny how that works," he challenged, tying his shoes as tight as he could manage.

"But that's the thing. It doesn't work like that. You don't leave the house unless someone forces you." She absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair as she leaned against the doorframe, watching Eren with accusatory eyes. He hated when she did that. Eren couldn't deny the fact that Mikasa knew him better than anyone (it wasn't like she had much competition there, considering his obvious lack of friends and social interests). She was seeing right through him and this terrible lie like it was nothing. Eren didn't have the most impressive intellect, but improvisations and lies were usually his forté. He was going to have to step up his game. 

He bit the inside of his cheek. "Jean said he was faster than me last week. Connie thinks we should have a race, and I'd rather not lose to that shit-for-brains."

_There you go,_ Eren internally congratulated himself, fighting back a smile. It was foolproof. If his ego was on the line, then Mikasa would buy it. After all, Eren admittedly had an ego as big as an ocean liner.

Mikasa smirked in response. "Man, I hate Jean. But he probably could beat you."

"You're a jerk, you know that? And he can't beat me in a million years. He has chicken legs," Eren said defensively. He hopped to his feet and flashed her a smile. "I'll be off," he yelled as he flung himself out the door. Mikasa rolled her eyes and shut the door behind him.

_Success._

Eren glanced at the front windows, making sure she wasn't watching him. Just to make sure, he jogged past their house rather convincingly and even continued a little ways down the street, just in case. A couple houses down, Eren ducked into a bush to catch his breath. He sure wasn't cut out for running.

Mikasa was right. It doesn't work like that. Once a couch potato, always a couch potato; Eren had no interest in running. Hell, he didn't even have the stamina to run more than 100 yards without wheezing.

Yet here he was.

He hadn't lied to Mikasa completely. Instead, he'd told a half-truth that was reinforced by multiple fibs, which really wasn't that bad. Indeed, Eren was going jogging. But he'd never admit to anyone what he was jogging after.

Downloading Pokémon Go was the most ridiculous, stupid decision of his life. He regretted it fullheartedly, but there didn't appear to be any turning back now that he had. One second, he was a regular antisocial sixteen year old, and the next second he was an aspiring Pokemon master. Eren was ashamed of himself, but now he was in too deep to abandon the game. He had just downloaded the game a couple of days ago and he had already achieved a lofty level 10. He was an addict, and for the love of all things holy, he was going to catch 'em all. May God have mercy on his soul.

The weather was nice enough, especially after what had seemed like a week straight of rain. His shoes were already starting to cake with mud as Eren speed-walked down the sidewalk. He was in hot pursuit of a Charmander, which was a highly coveted addition to his team. As lame as that was. But rare Pokémon didn't show up often, and this was his shot. It was pure luck that the Charmander was so close to his house; a couple more steps and he'd practically be on top of it.

He was too preoccupied to notice that he was on a direct collision course with a kid in front of him. 

By the time he looked up, it was too late; Eren's face connected with the other guy's forehead, sending Eren staggering. The other kid went flying somewhere to his right. Head butts weren't much fun, Eren decided, as his skull racked with waves of pain and regret. Somewhere along the way his legs decided to stop working, resulting in Eren tripping up and landing flat on his ass. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he'd dropped his phone in the heat of the moment, only to have it land in the nearest mud puddle. Great.

After a couple of moments of stunned silence, realization hit him. He was a sopping mess, slick with grime and dirt and muck from his fall. Splatters of wet plant matter had found their way onto his shirt and his cheeks. Man, Mikasa would never let him live this down. He glanced at the kid across from him, sprawled out on the ground like a door mat. He was noticeably smaller than Eren was, meaning he most likely got the brunt of the impact. He was a mess, positively covered in chunks of grass and mud. Eren cringed when he saw the khaki pants he was wearing, now ruined beyond repair. 

But the real problem that deserved attention was Eren's phone. His baby, his precious new iPhone, was disgusting. Eren had just gotten the phone for his birthday two months ago, and he'd already managed to lodge grime into every crevice imaginable. He reached for it slowly and picked it out of the puddle, on the verge of tears when he saw the mud dripping from the charging slot.

Eren released a shaky sigh as he halfheartedly wiped off the phone with the cleanest part of his shirt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other boy start to sit up. Eren's bloodstream immediately converted to pure, unadulterated rage. 

"Watch where you're going next time," he huffed, thumbing away the remaining flecks of dirt from the screen. Thankfully, everything appeared to be working alright.

"You're kidding me, right?" The boy countered, wiping off his palms from his windbreaker. "Jesus Christ, you had no idea where you were going at all."

Eren could almost feel the metaphorical smoke pouring from his own ears. First this kid had the audacity to walk into him and now he wanted to be disrespectful. A red fury washed over him as his ego swelled to unprecedented size and his fist itched to make contact with someone's gut. 

"Cool the damn attitude," he spat, assessing the damage to his phone. There was probably water damage somewhere. His fucking Pokémon app was still pulled up to the nearby Pokémon list, illuminated with shitty Weedles and Caterpies that didn't deserve the time of day (Eren being the high-level trainer he was, of course). But one thing that caught his attention was the lack of a Charmander. It had been on the list a second ago, and it would have still been there unless it had been caught. And there was nobody around who could have possibly caught it, except...

"...Did you just catch it?"

"What?"

"Do I have to repeat myself? I asked if you caught the Charmander that I was about to take."

The boy gave Eren this incredulous look, like he couldn't believe he was about to pick a fight over a virtual flaming lizard. Eren would have to admit that it was a little sad, but once his temper flared up, even the slightest annoyance would manifest itself into World War 3. There was no talking him down now.

"You're nuts. Yeah, I caught it. So what?"

His head snapped up to make terrifying eye contact with the world's most irritating road block. All of a sudden his angry green eyes were inches away from big blue ones, and Eren faltered.

Jeez, his roadblock was _cute._ Adorable even, with blonde hair and slightly sunburned cheeks. His eyes were pretty and wide, but they were scared more than anything.

Eren had really scared him. He hadn't meant for that to happen. Well, he had at the time, but now he didn't. He immediately dropped his fist and whipped it behind his back, as far away from the boy as possible.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. 'M so sorry," he stuttered, backing away from the muddy boy in front of him. The boy's eyes, once filled with terror, were now confused.

"It's, uh, okay. I guess."

"No it's not, that was really uncalled for. I don't know what I was thinking, um, I'm really-"

"Chill out. I said it's okay. That means you're forgiven," the blonde interrupted. When Eren didn't reply, the kid gave him a lopsided smile that made Eren's heart melt. His mouth went dry and words were pretty much failing him.

"Are you...alright? You look a little shell shocked," the boy continued. He looked concerned. _Great,_ Eren thought. _Now I look like a certifiable creep._

"Y-yeah," Eren said hoarsely. Get a hold of yourself. "I'm just really sorry, is all. For everything. You're a mess."

The boy chuckled. "You don't look much better. Listen, I'm sorry too."

"You have no need to apologize," Eren sighed. "I just freaked out over a dumb app. Man, that was lame of me."

"Kind of," he agreed, rising to his feet. "But it's nice to meet a fellow nerd. At least you're not boring, right?"

_At least you're not boring._ Huh. Not exactly a compliment, but it also wasn't an insult. He'd take it. Something to build on, right?

But that wasn't _enough_ to build on, surely. Eren realized that this was his shot. If he wanted to get somewhere with this, he was going to have to be somewhat charming, even though charm had never been one of his strong suits. There wasn't a gentlemanly bone in his body and he didn't have much ground to work with, considering the fact that a gentleman would never bulldoze the person he was going to end up trying to impress in the first place.

Maybe he could offer him a change of clothes. Eren's house was just down the street, after all, and walking home in such a state as the kid was in would probably be a pain in the neck. The boy would look nice in Eren's clothes. He'd be cute in one of those big tee shirts and a pair of shorts that don't fit him at all. He'd even be cute without the tee shirt. Or without the shorts. Eren's face flushed a deep red as soon as he imagined that last part.

There was no way he could go through with asking that without fainting. It was creepy, for one, and he wouldn't be able to explain the situation to Mikasa very well. So instead of asking about the change of clothes, Eren just smiled in response (as if that would be of any help at all).

The boy smiled back. "Well, it's been fun," he concluded, wiping a stray piece of hair out of his eyes. "Maybe I can save the khakis if I get home fast enough." He turned on his heel and started off in the opposite direction. Eren watched him, still a little too star struck to pull together a coherent thought. But then he realized he was walking away, and walking away meant leaving....

Shitshitshitshitshit. He couldn't leave yet. Eren hadn't even gotten a chance to woo him yet (hah, as if Eren Jaeger was anything resembling a witty romantic).

"Wait," he croaked, cringing at how terrible his voice sounded. The boy turned over his shoulder.

"What's up?"

"We haven't, uh...talked about collateral." _Collateral?_ Eren subconsciously smacked himself. _What the fuck do you mean by that?_

The blonde looked just as confused as Eren felt. "Collateral? For...for what?"

Eren cleared his throat. "Well, naturally, I owe you something for running into you and ruining your outfit. For that I take full responsibility. But you owe me collateral for the Charmander. So we both have to pay up."

The blonde smirked at Eren's blatant ridiculousness. "Oh, really? What would that entail? I don't think my life insurance covers Pokémon related accidents."

"We can leave insurance out of this if you provide your name and contact information. But in a situation like this, I'd have no choice but to buy you dinner sometime. If that's alright with you."

The boy blushed. Like, furious, bright red blushing, all the way to the tips of his ears. It made Eren's heart implode on the spot and he came dangerously close to losing his balance or something.

"I would be...open to the idea," the boy answered quietly. His confidence was completely gone, Eren could tell. He was flustered beyond belief as he smiled at the ground, refusing to made eye contact. It was almost bashful, which was way too cute for words. "But what would I owe you?"

Eren's mouth felt dry and his cheeks heated up like crazy. "You would have to let me take you to a movie after. And you'd have to choose what we see." He paused. "Sorry, I don't make the rules."

The blonde giggled nervously, but then stopped immediately as if he were embarrassed that he'd done it. However, Eren wasn't complaining- that giggle could cure cancer, probably. "That doesn't seem fair. But I think I'll be able to hold up my end of the deal. I'm Armin."

"Eren." His composure was essentially out the window. Man, this kid, Armin, had said he'd go out with him. He'd said that, right? Maybe he was just assuming, or something got lost in translation, or...

"Do you wanna walk me home? I live down the street." Armin pointed at a beige house with brown shutters. "Or is that weird? I'm not great with, uh, conversation, I guess," he said quickly. There was a nervous jitteriness in the way he spoke, as if he was really unsure of himself. Eren was sure he'd sounded the same way seconds ago.

"It's not weird. There's nothing I'd rather do," he assured. Armin smiled wide, as if that hasn't been the answer he was expecting. Which was ridiculous, because Eren would have been willing to crawl there if he'd asked.

"A-awesome. I'm sorry again, about your phone and all. And for the emotional trauma; losing a Charmander must be hard on you."

Eren smirked. "I didn't lose it. I let you have it. After all, you're probably a lower level trainer than a master like me."

"You think? I'm level twelve."

"Fuck."

**Author's Note:**

> Congrats to everyone that made it through this ridiculous drabble!
> 
> I've never published anything I've ever written before, so I'm incredibly nervous. In fact, it took me days to build up the courage for this! I'm not very confident in my writing, so if you have any (constructive) criticisms, I'm more than open to them.
> 
> Thank you for your time! I hope you somewhat enjoyed reading!


End file.
